The Rupee opened flat on ?Thursday on fears that renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities could once again send oil prices spiking. The impact of oil ?prices on the local currency had receded to the background but renewed hostilities ?have dragged it back into focus. For India, a major oil importer, higher crude prices widen the current account deficit, fuel inflation and weigh on growth.They could also test portfolio inflows, ?which had only recently begun to recover. Concerns over higher oil prices have ?already begun to ripple through Indian markets. The benchmark 10-year bond yield rose 7 basis points ?on ?Wednesday, the most for a single session in over three months, and Indian stocks fell 2%, their steepest drop in over three months. The run-up in oil prices reinforced recent inflation concerns and pushed ?U.S. Treasury yields higher. Minutes of the Federal Reserve's June ?meeting added ?to the upward pressure on yields, compounding the headwinds for the rupee and other Asian currencies. The minutes showed policymakers grew more concerned about inflation at the June ?meeting, with ?some participants seeing a case for raising rates. U.S. ?interest-rate futures implied a roughly one-in-three chance of a rate hike this month, while odds of ?a move by September were about two-in-three. The U.S. dollar held firm against most major currencies on ?Thursday as renewed Gulf tensions revived safe-haven bids while surging oil prices boosted rate hike ?bets, keeping the Japanese yen under pressure. The dollar fetched 162.41 yen , hovering near the strongest level since July 1. The euro and the British pound were largely flat and traded at $1.1426 and $1.3392, respectively. The New Zealand dollar remained well bid after the previous ?day's rate hike and the central bank's hawkish stance, extending its gains by 0.5% to $0.5725. The Australian dollar ?added 0.1% at $0.6936. The U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against a basket of ?six peers, was little changed at 100.96. The Japanese yen ?is struggling to ?regain ground after hitting 162.71 overnight, near its 40-year trough, erasing most of last week's unexplained, sudden jump against the dollar. Oil prices rose on Thursday after the U.S. launched fresh strikes against Iran, denting hopes ?for an end to the Iran war and for the full ?reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-fifth of pre-war global oil supplies. Brent crude futures rose 78 cents, or 1% to $78.8 a barrel by 0054 GMT. ?U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 74 cents, ?or 1.01%, at $74.26 a barrel.......